First Look: Victory’s 2015 Gunner

Heads up, Harley-Davidson! They’re gunning for you from both sides!

Polaris Industries, only months after launching a full-scale assault on the heavy cruiser market with its retro Indian motorcycles reboot, is sending a fresh salvo into the urban cruiser market with its Victory Motorcycle’s new model, the Gunner.

Unveiled in secrecy to a select group of motorcycle press at December’s Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, the new unit is a military-themed roughneck, powered by a 1700cc air-and-oil-cooled V-Twin.

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With its drag bars, blacked-out straight pipes, gun metal colors and low, slim seating, this bobber is aimed for exactly the customer Harley has served so well with its V-Rod line.

Like any self-respecting Harley, too, the Gunner will come with a wide array of available accessories.

The Gunner will hit the market, though, a little under the V-Rod price point. MSRP for the 2015 machine, which will be in dealerships within the next few months, is $12,999.

The Gunner weighs in at 678 pounds, features a 4.5-gallon gas tank, runs 16-inch wheels and has a six-speed transmission.

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In person, it’s a handsome fellow -- burly, brutish and brooding. Will you riders go for what the press materials call its “throwback bobber style without compromise”? Will you riders show up, as press materials invite them to do, to “Earn Your Stripes”?

We’ll know more when the motorcycles hit dealerships in late March.

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